Military, agencies train for wildfire season

A Marine helicopter kicks up water spray while making a water pick up during an aerial firefighting exercise involving units from Camp Pendleton, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, Navy Region Southwest, CalFire and the San Diego Sheriff's Department at Camp Pendleton on Thursday.
— Don Boomer

A Marine helicopter kicks up water spray while making a water pick up during an aerial firefighting exercise involving units from Camp Pendleton, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, Navy Region Southwest, CalFire and the San Diego Sheriff's Department at Camp Pendleton on Thursday.
— Don Boomer

CAMP PENDLETON  Five local fire, law enforcement and military agencies wrapped up their annual fire-season training Thursday afternoon.

From the looks of what has already taken place in the state, they could be busy this year.

Marine Corps units from Camp Pendleton and 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing joined sailors from Navy Region Southwest, and units from Cal Fire and the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department for this week’s sixth annual wildfire training exercise. The agencies conducted training with communications, information briefings, planning and actual firefighting in preparation for a major fire that would require military assistance.

The military is permitted to help local firefighters if certain conditions are met. There must be a grave threat to human lives, human suffering and massive property damage, according to the agreement that makes military intervention possible.

Cal Fire signed an agreement with the Navy in 2004 and the Marine Corps in 2007, and the three agencies began holding annual three-day training exercises in 2008.

Major wildfires swept across the area in 2003 and 2007, killing 27 people and destroying about 4,200 homes, and the response to each was heavily criticized. Last year, however, military resources pitched in to help quell the Vallecito grouping of fires, an effort that was praised as a great success.

The need for military assistance could easily arise again this year, officials said Thursday.

“There’s a lot of potential for it to be a pretty bad fire season based on the lack of rain and the current field conditions,” said John Winder, assistant deputy director of fire protection for Cal Fire. “We’re already seeing burning conditions that we typically wouldn’t see until July all over the state.”

On Thursday, the third and final day of the exercise, helicopters filled 300-plus-gallon buckets by dropping them into Lake Pulgas, then emptied the massive containers over a marked spot in the hills. The battle against the simulated fire included ground crews and bulldozer operations, an added component to the training.

More good news for local residents is the Marine Corps has two more CH-46 helicopters at its disposal for potentially fighting fires than in the past. Last year, just one of the helicopters was available, because the others were deployed, Lt. Col. Dana Gemmingen said. This year, up to three CH-46 helicopters could be available, he said.

“We are much better prepared, not only operationally but through the planning process as well,” Gemmingen said. “We are ready to go.”

That’s important, because the dry conditions and lack of rain has caused vegetation to be more susceptible to burning earlier in the season than normal, Winder said.

Cal Fire battalion chief Ray Chaney, who is based in Ramona, said the risk level is high this year throughout the county.

“There is no one particular area,” he said. “The entire county is susceptible to fire given our current drought conditions and vegetation conditions. We’re seeing burning conditions today as we would see in October, so you can only imagine how a fire is going to behave in October.”

Elsewhere on Thursday, Cal Fire held a news conference at Gillespie Field in El Cajon to offer tips on how to combat arson fires.

According to the United States Fire Administration, 16,800 fires were intentionally set in residential buildings nationwide between 2008 and 2010. The conflagrations caused 280 deaths, 775 injuries and nearly $600 million in property losses.

The fatality rate for arson fires was more than twice that of other residential fires, officials said.